Greg - Lena is referring to a post I made in response to a woman who wanted to know about sport climbing near NYC.

I told her the great thing about NYC was...(Lena paraphrased it).

I don't recall that girl mentioning she needed to be considering her cash flow when seeking a crag. As for my situation - it costs quite a bit more to do the cross-country drive than to fly, but since I have a dog, and the van is my home for the several months, it is what it is.

Nonetheless, I appreciate the bump....

ki6ojv - Thanks for the order! I LOVE that material from the bag you chose. I had only enough to make 2 chalkbags and one handbag for myself with it. I have no doubt your wife will really like it. The chenille threads woven as the stripes are just so pretty.

The thing that makes NYC SO awesome, from a climbing perspective....is that it is pretty easy to get to the airport, get on a plane and get to any climbing destination with a fair amount of ease(in comparison to living near smaller towns).

Red Rock would be one example. Get on a Red Eye out of JFK on Friday night to land in the morning in Las Vegas. Rent a car(Vegas has a very easy airport to car rental hub) and then you just minutes from some fantastic sport climbing. Climb Saturday and Sunday, and red eye back to NY. Voila!

You know - when I lived in NYC, I was able to do just that. Though I was flying the the south instead. And this was long after the days of a six-figure income had ended for me. I was able to do this on the dog-walking income I had.

Nowdays, I live on about 10K a year - no airplanes for weekend climbing trips for me. Nonetheless - I don't think it is all that unheard of for NYC people who work in a commercially professional field (finance, design, and such) to be able to do a long weekend trip like that a month.

I wonder if the Rimney group who flew in was the same guy I met in JTree a couple years ago. The guy owned a share in a plane. Actually I guess he had a share in a few planes.

He was a young professional, maybe 30 years old at most, and pretty down to earth. It blew apart my preconceptions as to what someone who would have their own plane would be like.... I did have to laugh, though, when he said "Oh, it's not as expensive as you might think."

I don't know how you'd get off a redeye and climb well. They call those redeyes for a reason.

Maybe some folks handle upright sleeping positions, crying babies and a bone dry nasal canal better than I do though.

Ya well...Pedro clearly established in the other thread that you are a pussy, right?

Pedro established quite a bit in that other thread. Leaves no doubt in my mind that one thing he hasn't established is a sport route on choss or sharp stone.

But I am a wimp about flying all night. I'm usually near hallucination after a red eye. Couldn't imagine climbing and feeling anything but weak and unconfident after a night on a plane. I do my best sending when I go straight to the gym from the day spa.

I will be spending Sunday doing the hand work to finish off the bags, first ordered, first finished.

And I needed to buy some more corset boning, and couldn't resist stopping in to the place where I source piece goods.... Got some really beautiful materials and so I decided to also get in three days in the sewing room to push through as many as I can(which isn't all that many...) But - I will take pictures of the new ones and post, as I know that the selection on website could use some more colorful pieces.

I'll vouch for the chalkbags Terrie makes. They're pretty sweet and hold up well. Mine is still going strong after a couple of years with no sign of going bad any time soon. This says a lot since my previous mass-produced bags in the past never lasted more than a season before the straps or clasps broke. I have zero doubts that Terrie's bag will last me quite a few more years at least.

I do try to make a good chalkbag, but admit I am not above screwing up. Especially some of the ones that have a fabric looser weave - I have realized I need to cut the pieces with a bigger seem allowance and then add a second row of stitching to minimize the possibility of having the seam pull.

Since I make only 2 or 3 pieces from most of the materials (though there are some I can get more from), every one has different characteristics. It really is pretty much a custom job on every bag, even though I do tend to do the same design(top and bottom panels, and loops in trim material)

As some know, good old Swanky had to be put down recently, since he couldn't pass NY Inspection.

There are ways around that. The easiest being you just register it out of state. Use a friend's or your parent's address. My vehicle is registered in one state, insured in another, and my driver's license is from a third. All 50 states have DMV reciprocal agreements which allow you to drive any vehicle registered in any state in any other state. Hawaii is the only state with an exception simply because one cannot just drive here, which means if your vehicle is here, you probably live here. But even then, it is possible to drive an out of state registered vehicle with a special permit in Hawaii.

I have been told about that, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to do it. The van was not safe for the road, I am pretty sure.

One day, I backed out of my parking spot and saw a big piece of - something - where I had been parked. Checked it out and it was a rectangle of rusted metal about the size of a double burner cast iron griddle... Looked under the van for a corresponding spot and saw where it had come from. A delam job worst than an awful resole! It wasn't the entire panel, but a portion of it, and seemed to me to be some sort of protective plate for the base of the engine.

There is a local Gunkie who had a rust bucket in which the rear support gave way and next thing, his back quarter panel was scraping asphalt. Lucky for him he was driving very slowly and next to a place he could pull off. I could have seen something similar happening with Swank.

It's one thing to put myself at risk, but knowingly driving a vehicle into the ground where the possibility of having that ground-breaker be something that could injure or kill some innocent person who happened to be driving nearby - not okay.

At any rate - the new rig cost only $1,200, which is very cheap for a van with only 65K miles on it. It runs well, but I am seeing some brake fluid leakage, so it goes to get looked at on Monday. I think it is just a seal from having sat without being driven for many months, as I see moisture at the connection where that spiraling line comes from the master,

New ETD is next Wednesday! Two more sewing room days..... Will have some more bags available(though not hand-finished).